Gail: We are considering selling our home and have interviewed a couple of local agents. My sister who lives out of town has recommended that we interview the agent who sold her home. The agent’s office is about a hour drive from our property. What are the differences in choosing a local agent as opposed to one from another town such as Palm Beach Gardens?  Carole

Thanks for the great question, Carole. When I first started selling real estate in the mid-1980’s, things were considerably different, with limited access to information on homes. With the public having more access to homes online one would think that using an out of town vs a local agent would make little difference. Let’s take some time and explore the differences.

Choosing either agent, your home will be marketed on the Multiple Listing System; this is a given. However, once the home is on the MLS system you might see some differences that can help or hinder.

Once the home is placed on MLS how would local agents, like ourselves, attract serious buyers to your home?

- Go thru the leads in our database that we have collected. Contacting all of the leads that have called or emailed us on other properties similar to the one listed for sale. 

- Network the property with our office colleagues and the sphere of local agents.

- Hold an agent open house to promote the property to the local agent community.

- Host a public open house and advertise the home to the public in ways that have been proven effective.

- Market the home to the data base of agents who have shown other local listings.

Having the experience to market homes in ways that are effective is one of the most important issues to selling a home.  Knowing the tools the local buyers use to look for homes allows the marketing to placed in front of the most buyers. Once the agent has attracted a buyer who is interested other factors come into play.

Being an expert in the community is also a key element in getting your home sold.  Potential buyers tend to ask similar questions when responding to an ad. Questions such as: what are the schools rated?, is there a dog park in the area?, or what are the most popular restaurants in town? Buyers purchase homes to meet their lifestyle needs. It is not unusual for a buyer to ask dozens of questions about services, schooling and leisure options when “scoping” out a potential home.

Once the buyer has selected a home from one of our marketing sources and made the decision to view the home, how fast can the agent be at the property to show it to the buyer? It is not unusual for a buyer to call me from a brochure or from the “for sale” sign and request a showing. If the agent’s office is close by, the showing can happen quickly.  If a agent has a team of Buyer Specialists, like we do, it’s even easier.  Buyers like easy: homes that are easy to find with effective marketing, easy to view when they get excited about the property and agents that are flexible and easy to contact.

Carole, local and out of town agents offer very different services. I would suggest interviewing a few agents, using the above ideas to help you form your questions and choosing the best person for the job. For more information on how to choose an agent to help sell your home or for archived articles on the home selling/ buying process go to www.TheBassGroup.com

I feel that it's important for people to understand the truth about strategic default.

Foreclosure carries with it many credit issues, both current and future employment challenges, issues with security clearances and possible debt collections... to name just a few. Foreclosure also carries a heavy emotional burden that is hard to quantify, but psychologists rank it right up their with death of a spouse or losing a job.

There are 3 main reasons that the term "strategic default" is misleading:

1.   There's nothing strategic about defaulting on purpose, especially when people have options.... like short sales or refinancing or mortgage modifications... that might keep you from foreclosure.

2.   If you're looking to apply for a new mortgage in the future it will make a difference of at least 5 years less in doing a short sale vs. a foreclosure.

3.   A foreclosure will be on your credit report every time you apply for a home loan, try to buy or finance a car or fill out a job application,etc. It will affect your financial life for years to come.

If you are underwater and can no longer afford your mortgage payments, your need to create a strategy to avoid foreclosure, not a strategic way to default.

For any questions about what steps might be open to you, please call the Bass Group today at 561-251-3520 or visit our website at www.BassGroup.com

Millions of homeowners in this country are feeling trapped by mortgage payments that are no longer affordable. Over 25% of all homeowners in this country are now upside down on their mortgage... meaning they owe more than the home is worth.

It is clear to us that very few of these people know what their options are. They simply don't understand the fallout of foreclosure or the choices open to them to prevent it. If they did know and understand those choices they would understand that there is nothing 'strategic' about defaulting on a mortgage and that avoiding foreclosure is always the best plan for long term financial stability.

Education is the key. The more that people understand their choices, the better choices they have to make, and the better they are at making the right choices the better off they are at overcoming their financial challenges.

The Bass Group is here to help you understand the choices. We have been helping distressed homeowners to become better educated in the choices they have and to help them build stronger financial futures.

Give The Bass Group a call today at 561-251-3520 or visit us as www.BassGroup.com for a confidential meeting and get started on the right path.

Problem is the REO (Bank Owned) situation. For the past couple of months the pipeline of new foreclosures coming on the market has dried up. The banks are in the midst of cleaning up their records from the Robo Signing mess and haven't actively been foreclosing on any new homes. Nationally the reports show that foreclosures are down almost 30% from this time last year..... So, what's the problem?  As soon as the banks put new systems in place to clean up their paperwork this huge backlog of inventory (shadow inventory) will start hitting the market. It's hard to tell just how large that inventory of homes is, but if you follow the financial news reports it's ranging anywhere from 1.8 million to over 5 million homes. Depending on how fast the banks start moving to clean up this inventory it could have a major impact on the number of homes on the market and therefore the prices.

Bottom line.... don't wait. If you are serious about selling your home, this is the time to make the move. Call the Bass Group today at 561-251-3520 or visit our website at http://www.bassgroup.com .

My message to sellers... price your home to sell in todays market. For buyers... don't be afraid to pull the trigger when you find the right house.

For more information on buying and selling .... or investing in real estate call The Bass Group today at 561-218-1230 or visit our website at http://www.BassGroup.com

Home prices are one factor in determining your cost of ownership, but so are interest rates and financing availability.  Even though interest rates have gone up in the last six months, they are still near historic lows.  Since your monthly mortgage payment is a combination of paying down your principal and paying the interest owed, if home prices come down a little further but interest rates go up, it could cost you even more to service a mortgage on an identical home!

While a home is a major investment, it is also the center of your personal life.  It’s important to live in a home that reflects your taste and values, yet is within your financial “comfort zone.”  To that end, it may be more important to lock in today’s relatively low interest rates and low home prices, rather than to hope for a further break in prices in the future.

Please give the BassGroup a call if we can be of any assistance in determining how much home you can afford in today’s market.

Within the past few months we’ve seen a large amount of economic news that has not been kind to most of us. We’ve seen wild swings in the stock market, a government that continues to chase the snowball downhill and one that will continue to do what it can until it somehow gets in-front of the market once again. We’ve seen mortgage rates go up, come down, go up and come down once again. However, rates have continued to sit between 5-6% for a while now, which in anyones book is a great rate. We’ve seen international markets, and entire countries, struggle with the same issues we have here in the US. All of this has served to keep many real estate investors sitting on the sidelines while waiting to see how low it will all go.

The reality is that you can’t time the market. Very few people have ever had great success at doing just that. Most of the time you either miss the peak and start buying and/or selling on the way down, or you miss the bottom of the market and jump back in as prices start to increase. Real estate runs in cycles. In South Florida we’ve been blessed to miss a lot of the highs and lows seen in other parts of the country over the years. The real goal for investors is in buying real estate that makes sense of the long term. The markets will rise again and the motivation and flexibility that sellers afford buyers today will be long gone and real estate will once again regain its good name as being the best long term investment available.

Now I’m not talking about the speculators that drove the frenzied markets of 2000 to 2005. What I’m talking about is the investor that sees the sense in buying a piece of property that with 20 -30% down payment will positive cash flow and over the years will provide them with equity build up and excellent tax benefits in addition to appreciation. The appreciation will return positive…. so this market gives you the best chance to optimize all the factors of investing in real estate.

Although many investors, ourselves included, have been hurt to varying degrees by the turnaround in real estate values, it does not change the fact that today’s market represents one of the most incredible opportunities to make money buying and holding real estate. There are some “buys” out there that are simply incredible. Whether you buy a “short sale” or a foreclosed property, or one that is just a great value from a seller that has to move, there are properties that easily meet all the criteria above.

In the past few weeks we have once again been involved with purchases that had multiple offers. Yes… you read that correctly! When a property is priced well (under market value) and is seen as a good opportunity it does not last long and draws the attention of buyers and investors. As we tell our sellers “You’re in a price war and a beauty contest”. For the sellers that want to win that contest they have to be priced well and be in good condition. For investors it a great time to take advantage of this market.

Contact Gail to find out what some of the great buys in today’s market are!